# What are your thoughts on this Discworld ranking list? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326 "2017-01-04T18:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/1 "2017-01-04T18:32:39Z")
I guess it’s a Buzzfeed link, but I’m in no way affiliated with that site and never visit it. I had been looking for a spreadsheet of all the Discworld book so I can track my reading of them. Got curious and read some of this list, which ranks them. [Here is the list, which calls itself “definitive” for some reason.](https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomchivers/the-definitive-listing-of-terry-pratchetts-discworld-novels?utm_term=.avB1ePr2R1#.xg689vPe78) I’ve only read the following five books, so I am a total amateur. Here is my ranking of them so far: 1. Small Gods - in my top tier of best novels I’ve ever read. 2. Guards! Guards! - very funny and amusing 3. Mort - I disliked the final 20% or so, but loved the opening 80%. Missed the landing, in my opinion. Love Death, though. 4. Colour of Magic - cute, nothing great. Men at Arms(reading it now) - I’m only 33% through it. No evaluation yet. Love the talking dog, though. Gaspode. Makes me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/2 "2017-01-04T18:44:16Z")
Not a bad list. I think that Small Gods and Pyramids are much lower, and Carpe Jugulum much higher. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/3 "2017-01-04T18:58:40Z")
It’s total bullshit. _Night Watch_ at #26? That alone proves my point. _Soul Music_ at #23? _Pyramids_ at #3? Total rubbish. Even Harry King would turn up his nose at it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/4 "2017-01-04T19:10:22Z")
Not a fan of the list at all. (I agree about _Night Watch_–it should be in the very low single digits). IMHO the most important and meaningful and rounded out characters in all of the Discworld series are Samuel Vimes and Esme Weatherwax, and would put their story arcs at the top of my list. (Tiffany Aching would go at number 3, and that arc isn’t even included.) Mahaloth, something you are probably missing in having only read those five books is that the Discworld series (taken as a whole) is not only funny but deep and meaningful, to the extent that I’d say that if you want to teach a child to be a decent human being without religion, you could do much worse than have them closely study the characters and motives in the Discworld books (especially the Vimes, Weatherwax, and Aching arcs, as already mentioned.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/5 "2017-01-04T19:11:50Z")
Well, without worrying too much about the details… _Small Gods_ is a good choice for #1, and his choices for 2, 4, 5, and 6 (_Reaper Man_, _Wyrd Sisters_, _Men at Arms_, and _Guards, Guards_) all belong near the top of the list. And he’s right that _Raising Steam_, _Unseen Academicals_, and _Snuff_ are at the bottom. But there was nothing wrong with _Making Money_, and the Tiffany Aching books deserved to be on the list. And I’d personally put _Pyramids_ at the low end, not at #3: It just didn’t seem to have much of whatever-it-is that makes Pratchett’s novels great, and came across as kind of boring. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/6 "2017-01-04T19:13:19Z")
The fuck? What **silenus** said. And what is up with all the Vimes hate? And calling _Night Watch_ “not … very funny” as though that justifies anything (or is even right)? This list is pants, and the author should find themselves in a scorpion pit, on one wall of which would be painted the advice: “Learn To Review”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/7 "2017-01-04T19:14:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And he’s right that _Raising Steam_, _Unseen Academicals_, and _Snuff_ are at the bottom. That doesn’t leave any space for _[del]Faust[/del]Eric_… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/8 "2017-01-04T19:18:08Z")
Opinions are like excretory orifices. Everyone’s got one. My opinion varies wildly from his. I consider **Carpe Jugulum** to be one of the best, along with **Thief of Time**. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/9 "2017-01-04T19:27:06Z")
I found copies of two Discworld novels I hadn’t read in my house and was thinking of doing a “Which should I read first?” thread. They’re Pyramids and Small Gods. Then I saw last year’s thread about favorite Discworld novels. Small Gods it is. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/10 "2017-01-04T19:29:05Z")
About the only thing I remotely agree with is _Small Gods_ being one of the best and _Monstrous Regiment_ being one of the worst. It actually makes more sense (and makes arguments more precise and interesting) to rank the books by **arcs** rather than overall. Then we can argue whether _Men At Arms_ is better than _Thud!_, which is potentially productive. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/11 "2017-01-04T19:49:35Z")
What **silenus** said. I stopped reading the list when the author had _Night Watch_ below _Moving Pictures_. Picking favorite Discworld books is like being asked to pick favorite children, but my own jumble has _Small Gods_, _Night Watch_, _Guards, Guards_, _Jingo_, and _Reaper Man_ near the top, and _Moving Pictures_, _Eric_, and _Soul Music_ near the bottom. I probably need to reread Soul Music. Haven’t we done a “Rank the Discworld books” thread or three before? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/12 "2017-01-04T20:04:42Z")
[Here’s the main one.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=534500&highlight=discworld+favorite+book) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/13 "2017-01-04T20:05:59Z")
I just want a _Complete Discworld_, printed on onion-skin paper so that the volume isn’t too thick. Someone did it for Shakespeare and Dickens. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/14 "2017-01-04T20:13:56Z")
Oddly, altho I agree Small Gods is good, it didnt have any of my favorite characters in it, so I wouldnt rank it high. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/15 "2017-01-04T20:17:06Z")
_[del]Faust[/del]Eric_ was forgettable (which isn’t a good thing), but that’s better than being memorably bad, like _Unseen Academicals_. And I don’t agree that _Monstrous Regiment_ was so bad. It’s probably the most devoid of humour of any of the Discworld books, but who said they all had to be funny? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/16 "2017-01-04T20:21:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …but who said they all had to be funny? Apparently the reviewer, because that’s the same sin he laid against _Night Watch_, which is the best thing PTerry ever wrote. (It still pains me to have to phrase it that way, instead of “has written.”) But besides that, _MR_ just sucked. Not as bad as _UA_, but right down there with _[del]Faust[/del]Eric_ and _Pyramids._ ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/17 "2017-01-04T20:29:00Z")
The _Tiffany Aching_ books should have been included. I think _A Hat Full of Sky_ and _Wintersmith_ are among the best Discworld books. I also disagree with dismissing the last 4 as post-Alzheimer. The last two were pretty weak, but I enjoyed _Unseen Academicals_ and _Making Money_. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/18 "2017-01-04T20:30:52Z")
Soul Music is one of my favourites, but that’s opinion for you. I’d put that higher, put Maskerade lower (the first of his books that I read that was I even faintly disappointed by), and shuffle a few others in. And also put the Aching books in, and higher. And Maurice and his rodents, that was a great book. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/19 "2017-01-04T20:32:35Z")
Whereas I enjoyed _Making Money_ and _Raising Steam_ while thinking the other two were crap. So they really should have been in the mix, since everybody has such differing opinions on them. Totally agree on the _Aching_ books. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326/20 "2017-01-04T20:49:04Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > The _Tiffany Aching_ books should have been included. I think _A Hat Full of Sky_ and _Wintersmith_ are among the best Discworld books. > . All four and also The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents are excellent. In fact i suggest them for pTerry neophytes, best books to start. (Colour of Magic is a fun read. But it really isnt the place to start, since it’s not building the Discworld universe so much as a fantasy Parody of other books) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-this-discworld-ranking-list/776326.md?page=2)